After 17 years at the helm, Jay Leno did his last show as the host of THE TONIGHT SHOW last night (Friday, May 29).
He left the program in the same ratings position (Number One) which he received it from long-time TONIGHT SHOW host Johnny Carson.
But no one can really compare Leno to Carson. He was truly the "King of Late-Night TV" for three decades (1962-1992)after taking over the post from Jack Parr.
Johnny Carson was in his salad days, at the peak of his career and THE TONIGHT SHOW's popularity during our teenage years when we were attending Father Ryan. I can't speak for anyone else, but one of the true rites of passage for me with my parents, was when they thought I was old enough to stay up to watch THE TONIGHT SHOW on Friday nights.
Here's about an hour of highlights from "The Best of Carson" I found on the Internet. Many of the scenes are in black and white and they span the period of the show being in New York then moving to the West Coast. It contains many memorable moments from back in our time in 1960s (including the hilarious Ed Ames hatchet throwing incident)and you'll also find some later highlights from the rest of Johnny Carson's lengendary TONIGHT SHOW career.
And, of course it begins with that special theme music that opened every TONIGHT SHOW in those days....
THE TONIGHT SHOW remains the longest-running late-night talk and variety program in TV history. In fact, only two shows have a longer tenure on the air (GUIDING LIGHT and HALLMARK HALL OF FAME).
While THE TONIGHT SHOW has had just 5 hosts in its history (Steve Allen, Jack Parr, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno and. beginning Monday, Conan O'Brien), we've had 11 U.S. Presidents. Who says there's no stablity in late-night programming?
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